Life During the Off Season
by For Esme
Summary: What happens after the JV-Varsity Showdown? Life goes on as usual for the Ducks. Relationships end, relationships start. Families are uprooted and old friends return.
1. Portman Returns

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing associated with The Mighty Ducks.**

Freshman year at Eden Hall did not start well for the Ducks. Deserted by Bombay, Jesse and Portman they entered the year with their team morale at an all time low. Adding salt to the wound was the fact that it seemed the entire student body despised them and that their new coach wanted nothing more than to break what was left of the team apart. Through tragedy and adversity they persevered, winning the JV-Varsity Showdown thanks to the convenient return of Dean Portman and ultimately gaining the respect of their new school.

**February 1996**

"Bye Mom," Portman hugged his mother, the woman pulling away and holding him at arms length.

"Dean, you better behave," she warned him sternly, sending him a look he knew better than to disobey.

"Ma, I know," he chuckled, pulling her back into a hug. "You worry too much."

"You give me too much to worry about," she squeezed him tightly, kissing his cheek. "Be good. Fulton, make sure he's good."

"Yes ma'am," Fulton replied, keeping all smart-alecky remarks to himself. He had learned the summer before just how detrimental to his health an ill placed remark could be around his friend's Brooklyn raised Latina mother.

"I'm proud of you. Remember, you mess up and your ass is home in less than 5 hours. Goodbye Mi'ijo," she kissed her son once more before kissing and hugging Fulton and getting back in the car.

"Later Dan," Portman nodded to his step-father who sat poised behind the wheel of the car, to which the man simply nodded in return. The two had a cantankerous relationship as of late, chocked up to the simple fact that Dean was a teenager and felt the need to always pull the 'you're not my real dad' card with Dan. This day was no different; they'd argued the entire way to Minnesota from Chicago the evening before and then the entire way from their hotel room to the Eden Hall campus once they were in town.

While it was true that Dan wasn't Dean's real father, he'd been a part of the boy's life since he was 6 months old. He'd raised him, provided for him and given him his last name. Dan was the reason Dean played hockey and the fact that Dean felt the constant need to take his teenaged aggression out on him was tearing Dan apart.

Watching the car pull away from the curb, Portman gave a quick wave and turned to his friend, "oh sweet freedom," he smiled, throwing his arms in the air.

"Where the hell were you?" Fulton quickly cut to the chase, punching his friends shoulder as he helped lug the trash bags full of Portman's possessions into the dorms.

"Chill, dude," Portman chided. "I'm here now and that's all that matters."

"I'm not gonna chill until you tell me why you left me here by myself! I've been in hell and you didn't even give me an excuse as to why, just a freakin' phone call saying you're not coming!" Fulton ranted.

"You're not even here a full day and your girlfriend's already yelling at you, huh Portman", Kenny laughed, walking up behind the pair.

"I know, once you get her started there's no shutting her up. She just nag-nag-nags," Portman shook his head before bursting into laughter with the little bash brother, which only served to infuriate Fulton further.

"You're not funny," Fulton grumbled.

"Whatever," Portman rolled his eyes before noticing Kenny's figure skates. "Where are_you_ going, fairy-boy?"

"I'm meeting up with Tammy before lunch," Kenny ignored the fairy comment, having gotten used to the Ducks making fun of his figure skating past.

"Fulton's first love? That Tammy?" he inquired, swooning to annoy his friend even more.

"Uh, I guess," Kenny shrugged. "I gotta motor or I'll miss the bus, see you later," he said quickly, realizing the time and rushing toward the bus stop.

"So, how do you feel about Wu mackin' on your woman?" Portman asked.

"He's not macking on Tammy, besides, she has a boyfriend," Fulton huffed; it was obviously a sore subject. "Don't change the subject either. Tell me why you didn't show up in September. Now!" he demanded.

"Fine," Dean groaned, he knew he'd have to tell him eventually. "Can we at least do this inside?"

"Fine," Fulton shrugged, happy to have gotten his way.

Keying into the dorm room, Fulton threw Portman's bags onto the empty bed. Thanks to Bombay and his endless connections, Portman would have a single for as long as he attended Eden Hall. It was the only request Dean had made when Bombay went to Chicago to get him back on the team, well, along with the fact that his mother not know he didn't have a roommate.

"Spill," Fulton instantly demanded.

"Chill!" Portman reminded him, setting down the bags he was carrying, only to be met with a stony glare and crossed arms from his friend. "Fine, fine, fine, do you remember that Vanessa girl from this summer?"

"Crazy Vanessa? The girl who was 15 feet away from us no matter where we went?" his friend eyed him incredulously.

"Yeah," he groaned, knowing how bad this was going to sound. "Well, I got bored when you left and we kind of started going out and one thing led to another and…"

"Don't tell me you slept with her…"

"Hey! It's the 90's!" he tried to defend and rationalize his actions all in one fell swoop.

"Dude!" Fulton turned away from him with a cringe. "Gross man! That is no way to lose your virginity."

"You're telling me," he sighed. "It gets worse, too."

"What, did she give you something itchy?"

"She told me she was pregnant 3 days before I was supposed to leave to come here."

"Wow," Fulton's jaw dropped, not sure what to say. "If she's- then why are you- Jesus Christ man!"

"She lied," Dean sighed. "Crazy Vanessa is exactly that, CRAZY! She didn't want me to leave and she found a positive pregnancy test in her mom's trash, so the whack job took it and made my life hell for three months," he explained.

"You have got to be kidding me," Fulton stared at him, not sure if he should laugh or not.

"I wish I was," Portman groaned, reliving the last few months in his head. "Don't tell my mom I have a single either, she'll flip and think I'm using it for "sinful acts," her words, not mine."

"Oh man, she must have FLIPPED!" Fulton couldn't help himself any longer and started laughing.

"She made me go to confession and tell the priest all about my impure thoughts," he cringed at the memory. "I'm glad you're taking joy from my pain."

"Come on man, you have to admit that it's pretty funny," he placed a reassuring hand on Portman's shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he gave in and chuckled a bit. "I'm so done with chicks."

"No you're not," Fulton sent him a knowing look.

"You're right, but I'm definitely keeping it in my pants for a while."

"I don't blame you."

"Sorry I ignored you," he apologized, realizing how much he really could have used his friend in the past few months.

"Oh, you'll be sorry alright," Fulton smirked before wrestling the other bash brother to the ground, the two horsing around for the next 15 minutes before Portman finally gave in.

"We're okay then?" Portman asked.

"Yeah, we're cool."

"Good, so who's the hippie chick Cap'n Duck was sucking face with?"

"Linda?" Fulton asked. "Yeah, she's pretty intense but she like, knows everyone. I swear dude, the jocks all hate her but she's queen of the rejects. She got the Chess Club to do our laundry," he remarked, still in awe of how one nutty girl could command so much power.

"And the cat lady and the varsity goalie? The dude looks like a chick; I thought Jules went all lesbo on us," Portman commented, laying on the floor and trying to catch his breath.

"He's a prick. I swear to god, he lays a finger on her and I'll beat his pretty little girl face in," Fulton raged.

"You didn't see him kiss her last night?"

"What?!" he bellowed, getting to his feet and quickly resolving that it was time for Scooter Vanderbilt to die.

"Oh man, you've got it bad," Portman laughed, realizing just what was going on with his friend. "I don't think killing her crush will win you any points though."

"Is it that obvious?" Fulton turned beet red.

"In a third grade kind of way," he shrugged, getting up to start unpacking. "You tease her until she's practically in tears and then try to beat up any boy that shows interest in her."

"I don't tease her!"

"You asked her if she needed to use the litter box when she said her stomach hurt last night! That's not exactly flirting…or concern," Portman laughed, throwing a bag toward his friend. "Help me unpack."

"Shut up, man," Fulton huffed before ripping open the bag and smirking at the CDs that spilled out. "Wow, you're not allowed to be away from the Ducks for that long anymore," he commented.

"What are you talking about?"

"La Bouche, Ace of Base, Mariah Carey? Who are you and what have you done to Portman?" Fulton turned toward his friend, a scared look on his face.

"What the hell?" Portman rifled through the rest of the bag, noticing candles, fake flowers, a box of condoms and a quick note reading; '_I was really looking forward to being an Auntie, don't let me down_'. "Maria," he growled. "I swear her whole reason for being put on earth was to torture the life out of me."

"She's like 13; they're supposed to be annoying at that age," he laughed as he read the note.

"She's gone beyond annoying; she's just plain evil now. Where the hell did she get condoms from anyway?"

"Frank?" he offered, referring to the oldest in the Portman clan and Dean's only full sibling.

"He probably gave her the idea. I am so glad to be away from them," he commented, ripping open the rest of the bags in search of sheets and pillows. He was quickly adjusting to the fact that he finally had his own space, after 15 years of life he wouldn't have to share a room.

"They're hilarious," Fulton said, coming across the pillows and throwing them at Portman.

"Yeah, for a few weeks, anything after that is cruel and unusual." It was true, the Portman kids were horrible toward each other, but it was always done in good fun. With seven of them (a direct side effect of their parents' strong Catholic upbringing), there was always some sort of mischief or chaos being wrought around the house.

"Whatever," Fulton rolled his eyes before going back to their previous conversation. "So, what kind of kiss was it?"

"Which one?"

"WHICH ONE? He kissed her more than once?" he raged, his stomach in knots.

"Well, there was the PG cheek kiss on the ice and then there was the bordering on NC-17 kiss outside of the locker room," Portman informed him, "not like I was spying on them or anything. It was just, I don't know, you know when you go by a car accident and you can't look away? It was kind of like that, all awkward and Julie and gross."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Fulton groaned, pushing bags so he could sit on the bed.

"You're such a girl," Portman rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go, we're already late."

"For what?"

"Goldberg's, remember? His parents are having the team over for lunch? You alright man, you never forget food?"

"What does she see in him? They've treated us like crap since we got here!"

"I don't know," Portman sighed out of frustration, "why don't you ask her when we get to Goldberg's. Now come on, I'm starving," he pulled his friend off the bed and pushed him out the door.


	2. Lunch

**Thank you all for such wonderful reviews, they've helped to keep a fire under my butt and churn out some more. Be patient with me, this story is a melting pot of 3 other stories I started writing so there are some kinks that I need to work out. For those who were concerned, there is no Ken and Tammy, I agree, it's just wrong. I'm sorry for any confusion on that front, they're simply friends with a common interest.**

**Disclaimer: The Mighty Ducks are property of Michael Eisner, I only wish I were as rich as him. **

The Goldberg Family lived in a large, red colonial nestled in the outlying suburbs of Minneapolis. It was a far cry from the small inner city apartment they lived in when they had first moved to town 10 years earlier and a testament to what a well placed Deli could do for a family. Hurrying up to the door, both Portman and Fulton shoved their hands in their pockets as they argued over who was going to knock, knowing all too well that Mrs. Goldberg was going to give them hell for being late.

"Boys, you made it!" Nina Goldberg flung the door open, momentarily masking her frustration with a smile as she prepared to lay the Jewish guilt on them. Short and robust, it was clear who Greg got his looks from. "It's so nice to see you Dean, we all thought you found better and left us," she ushered them into the house before grabbing each of them by the ear .

"Ouch, Mama G!" Fulton complained, trying to keep up with her so she wouldn't pull his ear any harder.

"I said noon and I meant noon! You had me worried half to death!" she ranted. "I swear, half these gray hairs are from you Fulton!"

"I was saying goodbye to my parents and Fulton was helping me unpack," Portman tried, anything to get the woman off of his ear.

"I don't want to hear it, noon is noon, don't do it again," she dropped her grasp on both boys before drawing them into long hugs. "Lunch will be ready in a few minutes, everyone's downstairs. Fulton, you can show Dean around if you want, but don't you dare tease Crackers."

"Yes Ma'am," Fulton smiled at her before nodding for Portman to follow him.

"She's crazier than I remember," Portman took a deep breath, glad to be away from the woman who he'd fortunately only met once before.

"She's the best," Fulton chuckled a bit. "Crazy, yes, but she's still the greatest. I pretty much lived here in elementary school," he remarked, marveling how not much had changed since he'd been there last.

"Who's Crackers?"

"That," Fulton pointed to the large Macaw in the living room, "is Crackers."

"Whoa, that's a very large bird."

"And a very large pain in my ass," commented Mr. Goldberg from inside the living room as he put down his paper and stood to greet the boys. Tall and lean, he was ever the opposite of his wife and son. Time had taken its toll on his hairline, the familiar old man horseshoe of hair circled his dome and reading glasses hung from his neck. "Fulton my boy, I haven't seen you in ages."

"Yeah this new school is rough," he commented, shaking the man's hand.

"I'm sure the fact that the other half of the dynamic duo isn't around helps too. She'll be visiting in a few months," he smirked before turning his attention to Dean. "The Ducks prodigal son, it's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back, Sir," Dean responded formally, taking note of the exchange between his friend and the older man, reminding himself to ask about it later.

"Alright, I've kept you long enough, go, have fun," he motioned toward the basement door. Halfway down the stairs the boys heard the telephone ring and Crackers start yelling, "_Marty, get the damn phone!_" as Mr. Goldberg yelled something in return to his wife about eating the bird on Thanksgiving.

"Your family is hilarious," Portman clapped Goldberg on the shoulder as they made it into the basement.

"You say tomato," the goalie shook his head, handing Portman the pool cue in his hand. "Here, I already owe Cake Eater twenty bucks, I can't cut into my after practice pizza fund any more."

"Excellent, prepare to pay up Preppy," Portman smiled mischievously before settling into a friendly game while Fulton looked on and worked up the courage to go talk to Julie.

"In your dreams, Portman," Adam put on his best game face, trying to hide just how much Portman could still intimidate him.

"I can't believe he kissed you!" Connie suddenly squealed as Julie filled her in on the post game happenings from the night before.

"Twice!" Julie squealed back, both girls latching on to the other, jumping up and down as the rest of the team looked at them oddly before returning to their previous activities.

"I want to play!" Tammy bounced over, "who kissed who?"

"Only the hottest guy on the whole varsity team!" Connie looked at Tammy with utmost seriousness, "we're talking Brad Pitt in _Se7en_, Tam."

"Kissed you?" she questioned, knowing full well that she didn't hang out with them as much anymore, but pretty sure that Connie and Guy were still an item.

"No, he kissed Julie!" Connie clarified.

"He's more Brad Pitt in _12 Monkeys_ if you ask me," Fulton chimed in from across the room.

"So, he's drop dead sexy, but a psychopath?" Tammy cocked an eyebrow, not sure why Fulton felt the need to put in his two cents, but having a very good idea as to his reasoning.

"I'm glad you're finally admitting your man-crush on Scooter and all, but no one asked for your opinion, Reed," Connie glared at the enforcer, causing some of the guys to murmur under their breath and Fulton to blush as Julie laughed.

"Oh, you just got burned," Averman clapped Fulton on the back, "the Velvet Hammer is back and better than ever."

"Maybe _Connie_ should've been called The Cat," Luis added, doing his best impersonation of two cats fighting.

"Velvet Hammer?" Portman looked up from his game, "this sounds dirty, someone explain." Fulton quickly elbowed his friend in the ribs before stalking off to take his frustrations out on the pin ball machine.

"Shut up!" Connie yelled, pulling the girls to the sofa in the far corner of the basement so they could continue their girl talk. "Freakin' morons," she huffed.

"Calm down, Cons," Julie giggled, still on cloud nine.

"Yeah, whatever," she rolled her eyes. "So, did he ask you out? Are you his girlfriend? What's going on?"

"I don't know," Julie blushed. "We didn't do too much talking."

"You're my idol," Connie exclaimed as Tammy stood.

"I'll be right back ladies," she smiled and walked over to where Fulton was beating up the pin ball machine. "You alright there?"

"I'm fine," he grumbled. "Where's your boyfriend?"

"Knock it off," she rolled her eyes, not amused by his childish behavior. "Jay's at work, if you must know. Now what crawled up your ass and died?"

"Does she have to do that? Just flaunt the grossness that is Julie and Scooter?" Fulton stopped his game and turned to Tammy. "It's disgusting!"

"You're jealous!" Tammy chided.

"I am not!"

"You so are," she smirked. They may have been exes, but their friendship hadn't suffered when they broke up. Besides, they were practically babies when they had dated, both not knowing what a relationship even entailed.

"So what if I am?" he crossed his arms over his chest, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"Oh, you're a huge help, thanks Tammy."

"Will you grow up, for Pete's sake?" she sighed. "If you like her, go tell her."

"It's too late," he whined.

"You need to grow a pair, Fulton," Tammy rolled her eyes and rejoined the girls.

"She wants you back, doesn't she," Portman slid over, stuffing the twenty dollars he'd just won off of Adam into his pocket.

"Not exactly," he mumbled, "she told me to grow a pair."

"The girl has a point."

"Get away from me," Fulton pushed his shoulder, making Portman laugh as he squeezed into the tiny spot between Dwayne and Guy on the futon in front of the television.

"Men, there's no need to worry anymore, Portman's back and reporting for duty," he wrapped his arms around their shoulders, a smug smile on his face before noticing the serious looks on theirs. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Guy clenched his jaw before getting up and storming away.

"What's with him?"

"I told him he needed to stop treating Connie like crap," Dwayne said.

"Oh," Portman cocked an eyebrow, "I know you're just trying to look out for her and all Cowboy, but you need to butt out sometimes."

"He treats her like she's just one of the guys," he huffed.

"She _is_ just one of the guys and you know she'd kick our asses if we treated her any different."

"Yeah, but they're dating. Half the time he ignores her!"

"Why do you even care?" Portman questioned, wondering when everyone went nuts.

"I _don't_ care! That's just not how you treat a lady!" Dwayne threw his hands in the air. "I don't care!" he repeated when he saw Portman's skeptical look.

"Sure you don't," he eyed Dwayne as he got up in search for some sane conversation. Heading over towards Goldberg, Averman and Russ, he turned on his heel when he saw they were ogling a Victoria's Secret catalogue. "Amateurs," he said to himself as Guy pulled him aside.

"I swear to God, man. You've got to keep Dwayne away from me or I'm going to punch him in the face."

"Uh, okay," Portman looked for a way out of this conversation.

"DUCKS! LUNCH!" Mrs. Goldberg yelled down, Portman quickly running up the stairs and away from the others.

"Bless you," he kissed Mrs. Goldberg's cheek as he made it to the top of the stairs.

"Yes, well, we are the chosen people," she commented, smiling at him. "Now go, eat before my son gets up here."


	3. Lunch cont

**A/N: Again, thank you all for such wonderful reviews! Your kind words of encouragement do wonders. In this chapter you'll encounter the beginnings of my attempt to try and legitimize the over used and often poorly done, absent Duck twin plot line. It won't be expanded on for another few chapters so please, no flames until then. Yes, I know, Scooter comes off as a major jerk at the end of this, that wasn't my complete intention but this chapter was getting long so I had to cut it off before I resolved his attitude problem. **

**Once again, I DISCLAIM.**

"Lunch was great, Mrs. Goldberg," Julie said as she put her coat on. "Thank you again; I couldn't eat much more cafeteria food."

"Angel, you come here anytime and we'll make sure you're good and fed. You're too skinny," the older woman grabbed Julie into a hug. "Are you sure you can't stay?" she asked, referring to the fact that the rest of the team was still planted at her kitchen table, stuffing their faces and horsing around.

"I'm sure. I've got to get to the library before it closes," she sighed, "I've put off this paper for weeks and now it's due on Monday and I haven't started."

"Julie, wait up, I'll go with you," Fulton peeked around the corner. "I've um, got that paper, you know? It's on," he racked his brain for a subject, any subject to pop into his head. "Shit," he grumbled under his breath, the utterance not lost on Mrs. Goldberg as she quickly smacked the back of his head. "What was that for?!"

"Your dirty mouth and inability to lie around pretty girls," she responded, pulling a tiny slip of paper from her pocket. "Besides, you're not going anywhere mister," she smirked, holding the paper for him to clearly see a childish 'I.O.U.' written on it. "I have boxes that need to go in the attic and Gregory doesn't fit in the crawl space."

"What's that?" Julie laughed, causing Fulton to squirm. Luckily for him, she hadn't thought too much into Fulton's sudden interest in the library or the comment passed between him and the maternal figure to his right.

"The stupidest thing anyone could ever give this woman," he groaned.

"Our boy here," Mrs. Goldberg began to explain, "used to write me an I.O.U. every time he pushed my buttons. This one," she inspected the back where she'd written his infraction, "was for breaking the arm off of my favorite Hummel."

"You saved them?" Julie continued to laugh.

"Of course I saved them! It's like a half off coupon on your favorite ice cream, that never expires," she smiled wide. "I used to have them from most of the boys, but I've long since used them. This one though," she kissed Fulton's cheek, "well, he should still be writing them."

"Will you stop now?" he whispered into her ear, causing the woman to smile knowingly. "I guess I'll see you Monday then, Jules," he shrugged.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Have fun with those boxes." Winking at him, she walked out the door.

"So, are you going to tell her before that girly boy swoops in?" Nina wrapped an arm around Fulton.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't act stupid," she swatted him. "Julie, I'm talking about Julie and the fact that you're all goo-goo eyed over her. You better make your move, Bubeleh; I was at that game last night."

"I was going to make a move, but then you decided to butt in," he retorted.

"Don't you start that," she warned. "What was your big plan? Hmm? Go to the library with her and lie about some paper you have to write? That's no way to woo someone, you know better."

"You're still butting in," he pointed out.

"I do not kibitz!" she protested. "If you're going to be with a Shikseh, I want it to be her. Don't ruin this for me."

"You realize I'm not Jewish _or_ your kid, right?" he questioned, smirking at her.

"You're all my kids," she corrected him. "I've fed you, I've sheltered you, I've beaten you for being stupid…" she started, but was cut off by a loud crash coming out of the kitchen. "That better not be my serving tray!" she yelled, storming in to investigate, only to be met by an empty room. "That's right, you better run!" she hollered out the side door when she saw her broken tray.

"Where'd everyone go?" Portman asked, emerging from the bathroom.

"Far from here," Fulton pushed his friend down the hallway. "We're gonna put those boxes in the attic now," he called, not waiting for a reply as he headed to the second floor.

"Wow, she looked like she was gonna spit fire!" Portman remarked.

"She might," he responded, not phased in the least.

"Where are we going?"

"She needed me to put stuff in the attic."

"Doesn't she have a son to do that for her?"

"He doesn't fit in the crawl space," Fulton explained, causing both boys to burst into laughter.

"What's with all the stuffed animals in Goldberg's room?" Portman asked as he peered into the open bedroom in front of him, passing a box up the ladder to Fulton.

"That's Addy's room."

"Whose room?"

"His sister," Fulton descended a few rungs to grab the box Portman wasn't paying attention to.

"Goldie has a sister?!"

"Twin sister," he corrected.

"No way!"

"Way," Fulton laughed. "She's not around much."

"Apparently," Portman looked up toward his friend, shock written on his face.

"She's crazy."

"Like, she's locked away crazy?"

"No," Fulton laughed. "Fun crazy, our kind of crazy. She goes to some artsy prep school in Philly," he tried to explain.

"Why?"

"Uh, her cousin goes there and Mrs. Goldberg didn't want to be outdone by her sister or something," he shrugged, honestly not remembering the reasoning behind her going there anymore. "We were like best friends growing up; I didn't talk to any of the Goldberg's for 2 weeks when I found out they were shipping her off."

"And now?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, heaving another box into the attic. "She's not around that much."

"Are they like, identical?"

"Think about that for a second," Fulton stepped off the ladder, having placed the last box safely into the attic. "How can a boy and girl be identical?"

"You know what I mean," Portman rolled his eyes.

"They look nothing alike."

"Is she hot?"

"I thought you were done with chicks," Fulton smirked.

…………

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Scooter asked Julie as he took the seat beside her on the bus.

"Library," she replied simply, holding up the books for him to see.

"Me too," he smiled, displaying his books. "I have a five page paper on the Franco-Prussian War due Wednesday," he groaned.

"Mine's due Monday," she sighed.

"Oh, you win," he smirked, taking her hand in his. "We didn't get to talk much last night."

"I was a little preoccupied," she blushed as he laughed.

"Yeah, we both were," he kissed her quickly. "I was thinking that I'd like to see more of you," he said before pausing, "that came out wrong." Now it was Julie's turn to laugh as he turned red.

"I knew what you meant," she reassured him. "I'd like that too."

"Good," he nodded, before an awkward silence fell between them. "This is us," he finally spoke up as the bus neared the Eden Hall stop.

"Yeah," she stood, following him off. "Um, do you maybe want to come to my room? My roommate's away for the weekend so it'll be quiet, we can start our papers or something," she asked, taking herself by surprise at how forward she was being. There was just something nice about being found desirable by a boy. She'd spent years as _'just one of the guys' _and that was fine, until boys no longer had cooties and she felt like a troll because no one gave her a second glance.

"Or something," Scooter smirked devilishly, grabbing her hand and practically running toward the dorms.

Walking up the sidewalk toward the main gate, Fulton stopped short as he saw Julie and Scooter rush off hand in hand. "What the hell is that?" he fumed.

"Here we go," Portman sighed.

"Did you see that look he gave her?" he ranted. "I know that look, I mastered that look!"

"Chill, dude, its Julie, what do you really think is going to happen?" Portman tried to console his friend.

"She said she was going to the library, why's she lying about being with him?"

"Will you relax? She had an armful of books and you're being creepy!"

"I don't like this, I don't trust him," Fulton clenched his jaw.

"This jealousy thing is getting old really fast," Portman informed him, pushing him so he'd start walking again. "Now move it, I have a lot to unpack and I'm not doing it all myself."

…………

"Scooter, it's getting late," Julie said breathlessly as she felt his hand play with the clasp on her bra, his lips kissing her neck. They'd been making out ferociously for the past two hours and as it was, she'd already let him go a lot farther then she'd ever thought.

"Just ten more minutes," he continued what he was doing.

Laughing lightly, she pulled his hands down. "I really do have a paper to write," she reminded him, "so do you."

"I don't want to go," he whispered huskily, leaning down to kiss her hard.

"Well, I don't want to write my paper," she broke the kiss, "but we all have to do things we don't like sometimes."

"You're too responsible," he groaned, rolling off of her bed. "Will I see you tomorrow or will you be locked away with that paper of yours?"

"There's a good chance that I'll need a break around 2," she smiled, standing in front of him and smoothing down his hair.

"I'll see you at 2 then," he smirked, leaning down to kiss her once more.

"The hall monitors change at 2," she informed him, "you'll have 15 minutes before you have to sneak in a window."

"I know."

"You know?" she raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I've been here for four years Julie," he chuckled, "I know all the ways around the hall monitors and open door policies."

"Oh, right," she blushed.

"You're cute when you blush," he teased.

"Shut up," she swatted him, pushing him toward the window. "Tomorrow at 2," she reminded.

"Tomorrow at 2," he repeated before climbing out of the window, walking around the building and across the quad to his dorm, a smarmy grin plastered on his face. After all, he'd just bagged himself a hot little freshman and barely had to work for it.

………

"I swear to God, dude!" Portman whined. "You say one more thing about Julie and I'm going to have to punch you in the face."

"She just," Fulton started before seeing Portman raise his arm, "fine, I'll shut up."

"Thank you," he huffed.

"I gotta go anyway," Fulton stated as he checked the time. "Call me tomorrow or something."

"Okay, Mom," Portman teased, putting on his walkman and laying on the bed.

"Bite me," Fulton responded, to which his friend simply pointed to his headphones, shrugged and laughed.

Exiting the dormitory, Fulton passed Scooter as he approached the building. Noting the look on the older boys face, he continued to walk before he stopped and shouted, "Yo, Vanderbilt!"

Scooter turned upon hearing his name and took a few steps toward his addresser. "Reed," he said simply.

"I don't like you," Fulton stated bluntly as he closed the gap between them, "what Julie sees in you is beyond me but she likes you for some reason. Now I'm going to say this once so you better listen, that girl in there," he pointed toward the girl's dorms, "she's amazing, so you better treat her like a princess and if you _ever_ hurt her I will hunt you down and beat you so bad you'll be praying for someone to come and kill you."

"Are you done?" Scooter asked rather aloof.

"Did you just hear what I said to you?" Fulton retorted. His blood boiled as Scooter rolled his eyes.

"Look, freshman," Scooter huffed, his rich, upperclassmen arrogance shining through, "while I can appreciate what you're doing, it's time you moved on. She's with me now, she chose me," he was cut off by Fulton's fist connecting with his face.

"We're done here," Fulton informed him before stalking off to the bus stop.

I


	4. Phone Calls

**A/N: My apologies, I haven't abandoned this I just had some major computer problems that led to me LOSING ALL OF MY FF. So I took a few weeks to sulk and wallow in my own self pity. Here's some filler while I try and remember what all I had written. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews!**

**I DISCLAIM**

Pacing her room once Scooter had left, Julie picked up and put down the phone about four times before finally dialing the Moreau household.

"Hello," a gruff voice answered, catching her off guard.

"Uh, yeah, is Connie there?"

"Who is this?"

"Julie," she answered tentatively. "Who's this?"

"Cat lady!" the voice noticeably lightened. "It's Bobby."

"Bobby? Shouldn't you be at school?" Julie questioned the oldest Moreau child, a sophomore at a local university.

"I had laundry," he replied.

"So?"

"So, Mom wouldn't drive down to do it for me," he stated as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

"Well that's grown up of you, look is Connie around? I really need to talk to her."

"Don't have a kitten," he made himself laugh, and knocked on his little sister's door. "Guy, remove yourself from my sister before I kick your ass, she has a phone call!" Julie heard him holler. "It's Julie!" she heard him add before Connie picked up the phone.

"Hey Jules, what's up?" she asked, Guy signaling he was going to leave. He knew full well they'd be on the phone far longer than he had the patience to wait.

"Scooter just jumped out my window," she blurted.

"What? I thought you went to the library."

"I did and he was there and then I asked him to come back to my room and we fooled around and he just jumped out my window," she rambled, not sure what was going on in her life at the moment.

"Julie! That's awesome, he finally asked you out!" Connie squealed, noting Julie's silence only moments later. "He did ask you out right?"

"Well, no, not exactly. He said he wanted to see me more."

"So you let him feel you up? Wow, kinda skanky, no?" she replied.

"Hey! That's not fair! You and Guy-"

"Me and Guy are dating," Connie cut off Julie before she could say something she'd regret. "Just be careful, Julie. He's a senior, they all want one thing."

"He's not like that," Julie grumbled quietly. "He's sweet."

"He's a guy," she countered.

"Do you think I'm like this because my Dad wasn't around?" Julie asked.

"What? Wow, Scooter_so_ didn't just leave. You've been sitting there analyzing this haven't you," Connie accused, chuckling slightly.

"Maybe," she grumbled, "but seriously! I don't know how this works! My Mom's at church so much she's pretty much a nun and if I see my Dad twice a year that's a lot. I didn't exactly get to see how relationships work."

"You had a T.V. though didn't you?" Connie teased. "Look Cat, it's not rocket science. Don't give it away until you get some kind of commitment."

"There has to be more to it than that."

"Well, yeah, but you seem to need that advice foremost. Once you get the commitment we'll take it from there," she assured her friend.

"How do I get the commitment?" Julie whined.

"Well for starters you gotta keep him wanting more," she laughed again, Julie groaning as she realized Connie wasn't going to let her live this down.

"You're not funny," Julie told her sternly.

"Yes I am, admit it, I'm a little funny."

"Goodnight Connie!" she grumbled, hanging up the phone while Connie was still laughing on the other end.

-------

Laying on his bed, staring at the poster of Yasmine Bleeth he'd stuck to the ceiling, Portman basked in the silence, a luxury he didn't have when he was home. Groaning as the phone rang, he knew it could only be one person, he hadn't given his mom the number yet.

"Bro, you just left. You're smothering me, you're not my chick!" he yelled into the receiver.

"I just punched Scooter," Fulton ignored his friends outburst.

"You're shittin' me," Portman laughed. "How'd you manage that?"

"He was walking in as I was walking out and he had that slimy look on his face so I said something, then he said something and I decked him," he explained.

"You better pray he doesn't tell your little Kitty Cat," Portman continued to laugh, causing Fulton to groan.

"Damn it! You know, this is her fault! She's the smart one man, she should know he's no good!"

"Riiiiiight, I probably wouldn't bring that up when she attacks you for messing up the preppy's pretty face," he pointed out. "I doubt he's going to tell her the truth anyway, I mean, would you advertise to a hot chick that some freshman beat you up?"

"Do you think he asked her out?" Fulton mumbled, trying not to sound whiney.

"Probably."

"Thanks a lot man," Fulton responded loudly.

"What?! Why else would he be smug? We both know Julie's too pure to be pink," he replied.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You've never seen Grease?" Portman asked.

"I'm going to pretend like you never said that," Fulton said simply, a little alarmed.

"Maria watches it like twice a week, dude. Give me a break."

"Fruit."

"Remind me to punch you tomorrow so you can match Vanderbilt," Portman grumbled.

"Whatever, bye," Fulton hung up the phone, shaking his head a little.


	5. Be My Girl

**A/N: Sorry for the delay all my lovely readers and reviewers, I'm having a bear of a time writing the next few chapters, but when I get through them the rest of the story is already written. If I'm one of **_**your **_**loyal reviewers, I'm sorry for not reviewing lately, I had to put one of my cats to sleep and I've been all sorts of heartbroken. I didn't edit through this 5 times like I normally do so, please be kind.  
**

**I DISCLAIM**

* * *

"You should really lock your door," Scooter smirked as he walked into Julie's room for their 2 o'clock rendezvous. "There's all kinds of psychos and creeps out there just waiting to take advantage of beautiful girls," he added, pulling Julie up from her desk and kissing her hard.

"Oh, like you?" she teased, pulling away from him. "What happened to your face?" she asked, cupping his cheek and running her thumb lightly over the bruise.

"A not so friendly game of street hockey," he lied. "Why? Does it make you like me less?"

"Maybe a little," she teased him, "I _am_ only attracted to your good looks after all. Wait, street hockey?"

"Yes, street hockey," Scooter wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"You just don't seem like the type," she added, smiling at their new found closeness and forgetting everything Connie had warned her about the night before.

"And what type _do_ I seem like?" he asked her, rather amused.

"The Dockers' wearing, sweater over the shoulders, yachting type," she inched her face closer to his, "it's all very L.L. Bean."

"Well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black," he closed the gap and kissed her, making his way across her jaw line before settling on her neck.

"Just because I'm from Maine," she started to defend herself, but was soon too distracted to do so. As his hands slid underneath her shirt, making their way up to unhook her bra, warning bells started to sound in her head.

"You're so hot," he whispered in her ear, hands groping any exposed flesh they encountered.

"Scooter," she sighed, pulling out of his grasp, "you're giving me a reputation that I don't want."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, outwardly sounding sincere, but groaning on the inside.

"I don't do this," she held his hands to his sides as they kept finding their way to her ass.

"I think you do this very well," he smirked.

"No, this isn't me. I don't let random guys feel me up," she said more forcibly.

"Julie, baby, I've been keeping my hands to myself since September, can you really blame me?" he asked.

"I'm a girlfriend girl, Scooter."

"So be my girlfriend."

"You want me to be your girlfriend?" Julie looked down to hide the blush that was creeping onto her face.

"If it means I get to touch you whenever I want, then yes," he chuckled, lifting her chin and kissing her softly. Had she been anywhere other than on Cloud 9, Julie might have taken into account what he'd just said, but right now all she could think about was how nice it felt to be someone's object of desire. "I have to go," he told her softly.

"You just got here though," she tried not to sound whiney, but he'd just asked her to be his girlfriend and now he was leaving?

"I know, I'm sorry, I promise to make it up to you though," he smiled wickedly, kissing her one last time before heading toward the window.

"I'm going to hold you to that," she told him.

"You better," he kissed her one last time before climbing out the window and heading back to his dorm. Walking past the common room he heard someone call out to him and turned to see Rick Riley. "Hey, man."

"Scooter," Rick grabbed his hand and clapped him on the back in a manly sort of hug. "How'd it go?"

"Looks like I got myself a girlfriend," he responded with a slight laugh when he saw Rick cringe. "Nah, it's alright man, have you seen her body? She'll keep me plenty occupied until graduation," he reassured his friend, unaware that across the hall, Portman's door was ajar and he could hear their entire conversation clearly.

"She's not one of those dominatrix chicks is she?" he asked, pointing to Scooter's bruised face.

"Nah, she's uncharted territory I think," he smirked. "Punk ass freshman has a thing for her though, sucker punched me yesterday."

"Which one?"

"Reed."

"Don't worry about him," Rick reassured his friend. He was more than happy to make that kids life hell, especially after the JV/Varsity Showdown.

"Don't do anything stupid," Scooter warned, still the most mature out of the bunch.

* * *

"Can you believe it?!" Connie skated up to the group of Ducks that were loitering around, outside the main building.

"What, that it's Monday already?" Goldberg yawned, looking none to pleased to be alive.

"No! That Julie and Scooter are dating!" she squealed, taking off her skates. Oh, how she loved gossip.

"Isn't that kind of like incest? I feel like goalie's shouldn't date other goalie's," Averman rambled.

"Yeah, that is kind of gross," Guy added.

"Oh, what do you know anyway," Connie huffed, grabbing her skates and trudging inside.

"Hey, guys," Fulton walked up to the group. "It's not even 9 and she's pissed off already?" he asked, noticing Connie stomping up the stairs.

"She forgets we don't care about new shoes or who Julie's dating as much as she does," Guy rolled his eyes before obediently chasing after Connie to smooth things over.

"Who hates me?" Fulton grumbled to himself, now knowing full well Scooter had indeed asked Julie out and wanting nothing more then this day to be over.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Averman asked.

"Shut up," Fulton shoved his shoulder and skulked into the building, immediately spotting Julie as she walked over to Scooter. She looked gorgeous in a button down oxford shirt and jeans and his blood boiled as Scooter wrapped his arms around her, his hands resting dangerously low on her back. Peering over Julie's shoulder, Scooter made eye contact with Fulton, sending him a smug smile before kissing Julie a little too inappropriately for a school hallway.

"I'm sensing anger," Portman teased as Fulton made his way to their lockers and started throwing his books around.

"He's only dating her to piss me off!" he fumed.

"I doubt that's the only reason, bro," Portman reasoned.

"I don't want to think about that!"

"I'm just sayin'," he held his hands up defensively. "Don't worry about it, Julie's smart, she'll see through him eventually and then you can come to her rescue when she's feeling all girly and crushed."

"He better not crush her or I'll crush his face," Fulton clenched his jaw, turning back to watch Scooter take Julie's hand and lead her down the hall.

"Riley knows you punched him, by the way," Portman warned his friend. "You might want to lay low."

"How do you know?"

"They're on my floor, I might have been eavesdropping," he shrugged, purposely leaving out everything he'd heard them say about Julie in order to save his friend from going completely nuts.

"This day can't any worse," Fulton slammed his locker shut and headed to class as the bell rang.


	6. Movers and Shakers

**A/N: You all are awesome readers and reviewers, I can't thank you enough. This chapter jumps around a lot throughout the day, but it's all needed to set the stage for the wonderful high school drama that's soon to follow.**

**I DISCLAIM**

* * *

Having hit the snooze button a few too many times on his alarm clock, Greg Goldberg rushed into the kitchen to grab a Pop Tart before darting out the front door. He just about had his second skate locked on when he noticed a man, wearing a suit and tie, hammering a "for sale" sign into the earth next to his mail box. Deciding that school could wait, he made his way back inside.

"Gregory! Skates off!" his mother hollered, emerging from the kitchen in her robe.

"So, funny story Mom," he started, ignoring her comment about his roller blades. "There's a guy outside, dressed pretty sharp if I say so myself and he's putting a for sale sign up. You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?"

"We're moving back to Philadelphia," she told him nonchalantly.

"Were you going to tell me or just spring it on me?" he asked, a bit gob smacked.

"Don't be so dramatic," she cupped his one cheek and kissed the other. "We'll move back as soon as your Grandmother dies."

"What about my life, my friends -wait, Grandma's dying?!"

"Your life won't change, you'll still go to Eden Hall you'll just have to live in the dormitory and yes, your grandmother is very old, and she's going to die in the near future. Not soon enough if you ask me, I swear that woman's hated me since your father proposed…" she started in, not happy about moving in with her mother-in-law and having to care for the old bat.

"I can't do this right now," Greg cut her off. "Can we talk about this when I get home?"

"Of course my baby," she smiled and kissed him. "By the way," she called after him as he headed for the door, "your sister's flying home Saturday!"

"Oh fuck me," he grumbled and slammed the door behind him. After 15 years he'd come to accept his dysfunctional family, but there was only so much a guy could handle in one morning.

* * *

Julie looked in the mirror one last time before hurrying downstairs to meet Scooter so they could walk to class together. She'd chosen her outfit specifically with him in mind, he'd passed a few comments previously about what he'd like to see her in and she figured she could indulge him. "Hey," she smiled shyly as he walked up to her.

"Wow," he replied, taking in her extra tight, low rise jeans and figure hugging, scoop neck shirt.

"What, no good morning?" she teased, shrugging on her jacket and putting on a beanie to keep her ears warm.

"Oh, this is a very good morning," he shot her a rakish smile, holding his hand out behind him for Rick Riley to slap as they walk passed.

* * *

"They're like baseball and apple pie..."

"Golden Retrievers and white picket fences..."

"Oh my god, shut up!" Charlie exclaimed, finally having enough of Linda and Connie's musings on all things Julie and Scooter. The three of them plus Guy sat waiting for the rest of the Ducks to join them for lunch in the cafeteria, breaking from their conversation long enough to wave Fulton over as they saw him enter.

"Don't get your panties in a twist," Connie stuck her tongue out at Charlie, causing Linda to laugh. "You're just jealous because no one's talking about you two anymore."

"Thank god," Linda added.

"Who we talkin' about?" Fulton asked as he sat.

"Who else?" Charlie grumbled.

"The all-American couple!" Guy squealed in his best impersonation of Connie, which only caused him to receive a swift kick under the table. "Ow!"

"Scooter and Julie," Connie clarified. "What are your opinions?"

"Right," he sighed, his earlier hopes of having a Scooter and Julie-free day dashed. "I don't think about it enough to have an opinion," he added grumpily.

Connie and Linda both stared at him with questioning looks before Connie raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Liar," she accused.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes and got up to sit with Goldberg, who now sat sulking at the other end of the table. "Drop your sandwich?" he asked the goalie.

"What?" Goldberg looked up.

"You look like you're about to cry," Fulton explained with a laugh.

"We're moving," he stated.

"What?!" came a chorus of replies, as everyone moved to their end of the table.

"I went outside this morning and there was some guy putting up a for sale sign. We're going back to Philly," he told them, completely void of emotion.

"Well, you can't go," Charlie chimed in, as if it was the most obvious answer.

"They said I could stay at Eden, but I'll have to dorm. This sucks balls, what about summer?! I can't stay there all summer with my grandma and my cousins..."

"This blows," Fulton spoke up. "Where are we going to hang out?"

"Great, I'm glad that's your biggest concern," Goldberg snapped.

"Dude, calm down, they're letting you stay at Eden, it's not like you're completely leaving," Fulton defended himself.

"I guess," he grumbled, still not ready to let go of his bad mood.

"Think of it this way, man," Charlie nudged his shoulder. "You're the golden child, if you guilt them enough, they're going to give you anything you want."

"The Jews _are_ good with guilt…" he thought momentarily.

"I bet they get you a cell phone," Connie chimed in, a bit too excited.

"Or a N64!" Guy added.

"I bet you could get a car out of them too," Adam sat, "you know, when the time comes."

"I'm still not happy about this," Greg reminded them, though his mood started to lighten considerably at the prospect of bribes.

* * *

"Hey Jules," Portman took a seat next to the goalie in math class. "Where were you at lunch?"

"Hi Portman," she smiled, trying to smooth out her tussled hair. "I was, uh, Scooter…" she blushed as Dean held up his hand to cut her off.

"Don't wanna know," he told her with a laugh. "Just…be careful."

"Oh not you too," she sighed. "You just got here! You don't know him, he's a good guy," she defended.

"There's no such thing as a good guy…" he couldn't help but tease. "We're all pervs."

"Well, that I already knew," she rolled her eyes.

"Good guy or not, Fulton will kick his ass if he so much as looks at you the wrong way," he lowered his voice as the teacher walked in.

"What?" Julie questioned with a small chuckle.

"Dude's dead if he hurts you," Portman told her before fixing his prior comment. "Me and Fulton…we'll destroy him."

"While that's sweet and all," she whispered, "please don't go scaring off my boyfriend or _I'll _destroy _you_," she warned, before opening her notebook and copying down the problems the teacher was putting on the dry erase board.

Scoffing a bit, he followed suit and began taking notes until he got distracted by his calculator. Punching in 5318008, he passed it to Julie and flipped it upside down so when she looked it read 'BOOBIES.'


	7. Harsh

**A/N: Writers block sucks. I have one more chapter to come up with and then the next few are written already. Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews, you rock my world. I didn't edit this one that much because I just wanted to get it up and out to you so sorry if there's typos and if it's a bit lame. It took a lot for me to channel my inner mid-teen and remember all of the irrational fights and feelings I had back then, I try to block them out. :)**

**I DISCLAIM all but Addy. **

* * *

"I still don't think letters should equal numbers," Portman grumbled as Julie tried for the fifth time to get him to understand an Algebraic equation. They were settled in the common room of the boys dormitory, Portman having grabbed her as she was leaving Scooter's room an hour before hand.

"Portman," she took him by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eye, "stop thinking so much and just accept it so you can pass Monday's test."

Looking at her wide eyed, forgetting this side of the Cat, it took him a minute to regain his inner Bash Brother. "No, I refuse," he finally muttered, indignantly.

"I'm going to punch you," she huffed, very frustrated with the oaf.

"It won't knock any sense into him," Fulton commented, walking into the common room and dropping a stack of CDs in front of Portman.

"But it might make _me_ feel better," she teased though didn't break her frustrated façade.

"What is this? Gang up on Portman day? I'm hurt," he pouted.

"Get over yourself," Fulton rolled his eyes. "I gotta run, there's an honor society meeting."

"Yeah, me too," Julie chimed in, gathering her things. "I didn't know you were in the honor society."

"He's not as stupid as he looks, Babe," Portman quipped, causing Fulton to punch his shoulder.

"Shut up, Portman," Julie laughed, getting behind Fulton and pushing him out the door. "Come on, we're gonna be late."

"So, um, how've you been?" Fulton asked her once they were outside and walking across campus. "I haven't seen you around much."

"I've been alright," she looked over at him and smiled. "Busy."

"Oh, so that's what the kids are calling it these days," he teased, trying to hide his real feelings.

"Don't be a jerk," she snapped, tired of hearing nothing but negativity from the guys all week. Every day it seemed as if one of them came up with a new way to tease her or give her grief for _dating the enemy._

"Sorry," he apologized, the two falling into an uncomfortable silence as they made their way into the building, not saying a word to each other until they were out the door.

"Julie, wait up!" Fulton called after her as she made her way to the bus stop after their meeting was over. "Are you going to Goldie's?"

"It's Friday night, isn't it?" she replied shortly.

"Jules, I said I was sorry," he sighed, inwardly cursing the female species and their irrationality. Reaching around her as she made her way onto the bus, he paid her fare as a peace offering though got nothing more from the goalie than a blank look and offer to take the seat next to her. "I didn't mean to make you mad," he tried when they were a stop away from their destination.

"I don't know why you guys just can't leave it alone," she finally spoke, standing to get off the bus.

"We don't trust him," Fulton grumbled, following her closely. "We don't want to see you get hurt."

"I can take care of myself you know," she stomped off the bus and down the street towards the Goldberg's home.

"I know you can!" He huffed, picking up his pace to keep up with her, "Cat, I don't like him. Ever since I punched him…"

"You punched him?!" she squawked, turning quickly to look at him.

"He was saying shit…"

"You had no right!" she yelled, catching him off guard. Julie was normally the passive one, levelheaded and calm but, lately she'd been on edge and it looked like she had finally snapped.

"No right? No right to what? Give a damn about you?!" he yelled back, the escalating scene catching attention from inside and causing some familiar Duck faces to press themselves against the cellar windows. "He's using you to get back at me!"

"Oh, right, because that's the only reason someone would be with me, right?!" Julie fumed, noticing Averman and Charlie staring out at them. Balling up some snow she threw it at the window, effectively causing them to retreat. "No one wants to be with the frumpy, tomboy hockey player, right Fulton?!"

"I want to be with you, Julie!" he threw his hands in the air, completely frustrated. "I like you! Or at least I liked the old you!"

"Shut up!" she hollered, not knowing what else to say considering she was completely caught off guard by that comment.

"What?!" he asked, his voice softening out of confusion. "I just told you I like you and you yell at me to shut up? What the hell? Are you PMSing?"

"Don't talk to me, Fulton," she seethed, indeed suffering the effects of PMS but not needing him to point it out. "I don't ever want to you see you again!"

Angry and dejected, he stormed into the house not bothering to knock, leaving Julie fighting off tears on the sidewalk. In the heat of the moment, neither had notice the taxi pulling into the driveway or the teenaged girl getting out and watching the spectacle they were creating.

"Come on, I doubt you're gonna want to deal with any Ducks right now," she walked over to Julie, shaking her head. She had instantly recognized her from pictures and television coverage of the Goodwill Games.

"Who are you?" Julie choked on a sob, inspecting the girl before her. She was tall with olive skin and had a mass of short, tight curls that were being kept at bay by the strap of her ear muffs.

"Your fairy godmother, now hurry up before my mother sees me," she tugged on Julie's sleeve, grabbing her backpack and violin from the driveway and making her way around the back of the house and into the woods. Stopping a short distance in, she pointed up to a tree house and started up the ladder, motioning for Julie to follow her. "I'm Addy," she held out her mittened hand.

"Julie," she replied, still looking at her in bewilderment.

"The other Goldberg," she added.

"I didn't know there was another one," she commented quietly, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"Not surprising," Addy chuckled wryly, starting to feel bad for the weepy girl in front of her. "If you don't mind me asking, I know Fulton can be a bit of a doof but, he's a good guy. Why's it making you cry that he likes you?"

"I have a boyfriend and the guys are making me feel like crap for dating him and then Fulton started in on me and he punched him and Scooter told me his black eye was from street hockey and I don't know what I'm doing, I've never had a boyfriend before!" she unleashed, Addy not expecting her to be that forthcoming.

"Oh, wow," she blinked, not sure what to say. "I don't really know what to say to that," she added awkwardly. Addy was always a bit of a loner, never having many friends, let alone girl friends with boy troubles.

"Plus I'm bloated, crampy and have PMS! I hate my life."

"Hence the hysterics?" Addy questioned, a bit bluntly. "You don't strike me as the type to normally be this…whack. Everyone always says you're all sorts of Zen and mother earthy."

"I'm not whack!" Julie sucked the snot back into her nose.

"Sorry, sorry," she raised her hands in defeat, looking out of the small tree house window and seeing Fulton and another boy walking down the driveway. "Come on, pull yourself together and let's go inside it's getting dark." She noted Julie's hesitation and reassured her, "don't worry, he just left."

Taking a few deep breaths, Julie calmed herself down enough to follow Addy, stopping at the sliding glass door when she saw the rest of her teammates gathered around the kitchen table.

"Come on," Addy instructed her, sliding the door open. "Ducks fly together and all that crap," she reminded Julie as she pushed her inside. "I think this belongs to you," she informed the occupants of the kitchen.

"Julie!" Connie stood and quickly made her way to her distraught friend's side, too busy on her quest for gossip to notice Addy's presence. "He's an idiot, come on, let's go talk," she pulled her friend into a hug and walked out of the room and down to the basement.

"Addy?" Greg questioned, walking in from the living room.

"Fatty!" she replied gleefully, launching herself at her brother and jumping on his back. "Didja miss me? Didja?"

"You're not supposed to be here until tomorrow, fart face," he grumbled, trying to shake her off.

"Yeah, it's not my fault Aunt Barbara can't read," she ruffled his hair before getting off of him and opening up her backpack. "Where's mom?"

"Deli," his interest peaking as he saw her remove a brown paper bag and throw it in his direction.

"Excellent," she grinned, not ready to deal with her mother quite yet.

"You are officially the best sister in the world," he smiled wide, removing a cheese steak from the bag.

"Yeah, yeah, just keep mom off my back this week," she told him, moving to the refrigerator to get something to drink.

"Who's that?" Dwayne asked Charlie who was seated next to him.

"His sister," the captain replied indifferently.

"Goldie, you have a sister?" Kenny questioned.

"I'm starting to feel like this family's dirty little secret," Addy frowned, hoisting herself up onto the counter.

"Maybe it's because you are," Guy offered between bites of his sandwich.

"Shut up, pretty princess," she scowled. No matter how long she was away, it always felt like no time had passed when she returned. The Ducks still teased her like she was that tiny, awkward 7 year old with the big glasses and bright purple jumper.

"Once!" Guy began to defend himself, "I played the game once with my sister and you don't let me live it down!"

"You showed up here wearing pink clip on earrings," she reminded him, causing a few laughs to erupt around the table.

"I forgot they were there," he grumbled.

"So what's going on with Fulton and Julie?" she asked casually, feeling a bit put off that there was another girl in Fulton's life. He was _her_ friend and she was far from ready to have to vie with another girl for his attention.

"Dunno," her brother shrugged. "He came in all pissed off and saying she just bitched him out then he left with Portman."

"They were fighting on the sidewalk when I pulled up," she added, catching all of their attention. "I only caught the end. He told her he liked her and she said she never wanted to see him again."

"Harsh," Russ cringed.

"I took her to the tree house to hide but, she got crazy girly and started crying so I decided to pawn her back off on you guys," Addy finished her drink and hopped off the counter.

"That doesn't sound like Julie," Dwayne commented, causing the table to buzz with speculation.

Feeling awkward and a left out, Addy picked up her belongings. "I'm, uh, gonna go unpack or something," she announced, leaving the room when her brother gave her a dismissive wave. "Welcome home," she sighed to herself as she made her way to the stairs, catching Crackers attention and sending him into a fit of squawks and cackles. "Shut up, asshole," she threw her earmuffs at the bird's cage and stomped up the stairs in a fit of unprovoked teenaged rage.


	8. Shut Up

**A/N: It's amazing how much FF I can get written when I have papers to write. Thank you for the positive feedback, I always get nervous creating a new character.**

**I DISCLAIM**

* * *

"What happened?" Connie asked, pushing Julie down onto the couch in the Goldberg's basement.

"I freaked out," Julie mumbled, trying not to start crying again. She'd never felt so ridiculous in her entire life. "No one wants me dating Scooter and Fulton punched him, that's why he had a black eye, not from hockey."

"He was probably just embarrassed that he got a shiner from a freshman," Connie rationalized for her friend.

"I know but, Fulton likes me, well he said he liked the old me, whatever that means," she sighed, leaning backwards. "He thinks Scooter's only with me to get back at him."

"Fulton's a retard," Connie rolled her eyes.

"But is he really? What if he's right? What if Scooter doesn't really want to be with me?"

"You are buggin' Jules," Connie shook her head. "What's up with you? I've never seen you like this before."

"I've never had a boyfriend before," Julie shrugged quietly.

"This is more than just an 'I've never had a boyfriend before' freak out," Connie remarked, a little worried about her friends emotional state.

"My mom's taking my dad back to court because she wants more child support," Julie confessed. "She's trying to turn me against him or something and now he's going to fight for custody of me. She's such a- UGH, I can't stand her. She hasn't worked in like 2 years, she just goes to church and bible study and tells me how my step mom's going to go to hell because she's Jewish and how I shouldn't play hockey because people are going to think I'm easy because I'm on a team with all boys and my stupid brother just sits there and agrees and is her stupid little minion and I can't take it anymore!"

"Whoa," Connie sat there in shock, knowing Julie's home life wasn't perfect but, not realizing it was as dysfunctional as it was, she always seemed so together.

"It's just too much," she let a few tears fall. "I can't deal with any of this right now and school's going to be over soon and I'll have to go home for the summer and Scooter will be leaving for college and nothing's going to get better."

"Julie," Connie reached over and hugged her, rubbing her back. "You've got the Ducks."

"No I don't," she pouted and sniffled. "They're all pissed about Scooter."

"They'll get over it, especially if he's as cool as you say he is," she reassured the blonde.

"He makes me feel like a girl," Julie smiled a bit. "It's nice."

"Doesn't hurt that he's gorgeous either," they both giggled

"Um, so Goldberg has a sister?" she asked, her encounter with Addy finally registering.

"Yeah, why?"

"I just met her, she took me up in a tree house so I didn't have to deal with Fulton."

"Addy's home?!" Connie looked at Julie, slightly baffled.

"She's kind of weird," Julie commented.

"Yeah a little," Connie agreed, "but she's Goldie's twin, what do you expect?"

"I guess you're right," Julie shrugged before sighing and returning back to her pity party. "I told Fulton that I never want to see him again."

"Well that's going to be impossible," Connie flicked on the television.

"I'm a terrible person."

"Yes, yes you are," she teased, Julie sending a punch to Connie's shoulder.

"Shut up, you!"

* * *

"Dude, what happened?" Portman asked his friend as they stepped onto the bus heading towards Fulton's apartment.

"I don't know, she got mad because I teased her and then next thing I know I'm telling her that I like her and she's saying she never wants to see me again," Fulton grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You had to have said something else," Portman replied, knowing full well that Julie wouldn't just freak out over something like that.

"Why do you automatically think it was me?" He responded defensively before hesitating at Portman's knowing look, "I may have said some things. I told her I punched her asshole boyfriend and that he was just using her to get back at me," he shrugged.

"Not smart," Portman made a face.

"I know," he sighed heavily. "I just can't take it man, between having to see him all over her in the hallway and Riley gunning for me during gym I may not make it through the year alive."

"Drama queen," Portman teased.

"Fuck you, look at this," he raised his paint leg to show a nasty looking purple bruise that covered the entirety of his shin. "You know what? I don't want to talk about this," he grumbled, the pair falling into silence until they were on the stoop of Fulton's building.

"Ready to talk about it now?" Portman asked as Fulton took out his keys and they entered the building.

"Did you grow a vagina in Chicago?!" Fulton snapped. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Fine," Portman laughed under his breath, thinking it was his friend who was acting like a pussy, not him.

"Mom, I'm home!" Fulton yelled, walking into the apartment and throwing his coat on the couch.

"Hang it up!" he heard her yell from the kitchen.

"How the hell does she do that?" he muttered quietly, grabbing his coat to hang on the coat rack.

"I'm your mother, I know everything," she emerged, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "My God, am I finally meeting Portman?" she asked, taking in the other hulking teenager and knowing immediately who it was.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you," Portman held out his hand politely, not expecting Fulton's mom to be so young or so attractive.

"You should teach my son some of those manners," she remarked, swatting at Fulton when he glared at her. "Get that 'tude off," she commented. "You're home early. Don't you usually mooch off the Goldbergs on Friday?"

"Yeah," Fulton grunted.

"Did you eat?"

"No."

"Would you like to?"

"Yes."

"Can you answer me with more than one syllable?"

"No."

"Great, I'll order pizza," she sighed, leaving the two so she could call in an order.

"Your mom is hot, bro," Portman commented once the pair was in Fulton's bedroom.

Looking at his Bash Brother in disbelief, Fulton grabbed a sneaker from off the floor and threw it at Portman. "Shut the hell up, man!"

* * *

Not really having much to unpack, Addy soon found herself pacing her bedroom, violin in hand. She was on auto-pilot, running through scales in rapid fire succession as she scheduled the upcoming week in her head. As it stood she already had two full days devoted to testing, interviews and auditions at Eden Hall and from the way her mother made it sound on the phone, she would have to have all of her belongings packed up before she returned to school at weeks end.

"I thought I heard dying cats up here," her father broke her from her thoughts.

"Daddy!" She smiled, rushing into his open arms.

"How are you my Princess?" He smiled, pressing a kiss to the side of her head as he held her, "I'm sorry we weren't home earlier, we weren't expecting you until tomorrow."

"I'm okay," she continued to cling to him. Out of everything that she missed while away, her Fathers hugs were at the top of that list. "Aunt Barb read my ticket wrong but didn't want to hear about it from Mom so she gave me cab fare and told me to go to the Reed's until tomorrow," she explained, causing the two of them to laugh.

"What happened then? Why didn't you go?" he pet her curls.

"We had this tea at school this afternoon before I left and she kept introducing me to the other mother's as her 'special' niece," she tried to explain.

"Well that doesn't sound so bad," he cocked an eyebrow, knowing full well that there had to be more to this story after having been married into that family for close to twenty years.

"Special as in special ed., Dad," she gave him an all too familiar look. "She was embarrassed by my outfit so she was telling them I was retarded."

"Well, your mother has her on the phone and is giving her hell," he pulled his daughter into another hug, trying not to laugh at her story.

"Do we really have to move?" she asked quietly, the reality of leaving her childhood home for good finally sinking in.

"Yeah, Princess," he sighed. "You've been to see Grandma, she needs us there."

"She's gotten worse, she sat down at the piano to play with me and she completely spaced," Addy sat on her bed. "Then when she started to play it was just notes, no music."

"Her doctor said it could just be depression from missing your Grandpa," he sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah," she forced a smile for his sake, she knew his mothers deteriorating health was hard on him and she didn't want to make it anymore difficult.

"Adamina!" Addy soon heard her mother call from downstairs, the sound of heavy footed steps echoing from the stairs. "Look at you," she remarked in a sugary voice, her stare, however, was anything but. "Barb told me you had a little incident with a bad haircut, don't worry, we'll get that fixed."

"But I like my hair," she replied meekly, taken back by how fast her mother started in on her.

"I'll make an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, we need to go and buy you something to wear for your audition anyway," she walked over and kissed her daughters cheek, squeezing her face.

"But I like my hair," she repeated as her mother left, her father squeezing her shoulder and following his wife out.

"You look like a Chia pet," Greg walked past her room on his way back to his friends, having just run up to grab a sweatshirt.

"SHUT UP!" she yelled after him and collapsed on her bed in a huff.


	9. Hair of the Dog

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, you are all so sweet and awesome. **

**I DISCLAIM**

* * *

"I'm too hung over to function," Cole collapsed on one of the couches in the common room Saturday morning, Rick throwing a Gatorade bottle at him.

"Hair of the dog that bit you or some crap," he grumbled, Cole taking a swig of the liquid and realizing it was half mixed with vodka.

"I don't know what that means but, I like it," he replied.

"Scooter," Rick called out, seeing the blonde walk past.

"Don't yell man," Scooter rubbed his temples and took a seat with his friends. "What's going on?"

"Ultimate Frisbee," Rick yawned. "Noon; loser buys for the party tonight."

"I'm in," Scooter held out his hand in a competitive shake.

"Carrie Briggs was all up in your shit last night," Cole commented. "You break up with the Freshman?"

"I don't want what Carrie has to offer," he shot back. "The amount of times she's hooked up with you... there aren't enough antibiotics in the world."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cole sat up and quickly became defensive.

"Scooter," Rick began to mediate, Scooter simply rolling his eyes and laughing. "But really, you get anywhere with the Freshman?"

"Her name's Julie," he reminded them, not particularly offended but becoming increasingly irritated with them referring to her as 'the Freshman.' "It's only been a week," he added with a grumble.

"Ooh, you better hope she didn't take a purity pledge," Cole laughed.

"I managed an ass grab," he added.

"One week and only an ass grab," Cole sat for a second in thought before continuing. "It's not enough time, man."

"Not enough time for what?" Scooter and Rick looked on in amusement.

"Prom tickets go on sale in a month," he began astutely. "It'll take at least another 2 weeks to cop a feel under her shirt, that leaves you with only a week to try and get her shirt off , get a hand job and figure out if you can get in her pants by prom."

"That's only three weeks," Rick interrupted.

"Shut up, let me finish," Cole huffed. "You need that extra week in case you have to dump her and find an easier chick."

"That actually makes sense," Rick looked to Scooter a bit amazed.

"Whatever, I'm going to shower," Scooter huffed, knowing his friend had just made a valid point but, not wanting to accept it.

"He knows I'm right," Cole shrugged, leaning back, his head snapping to the right when he heard a door unlock across the hall.

Emerging from his room, Portman stood in the doorframe looking less than amused after having heard their conversation from across the hall. Standing quickly, both Rick and Cole made their way over to him, getting within inches from his face.

"It ain't none of your business," Cole spoke first.

"I think it is," Portman challenged.

"I think, if you know what's good for you, you'll keep your nose out of things that don't involve you," Rick added. "You're new to this, so I'll let it slide this time, but we run this school and you scholarship assholes are at the bottom of the food chain."

"Stay away from Julie," he warned them, keeping himself in check. He was a big guy but he knew he stood no chance against the both of them.

"We will, can't promise Scooter will though," Rick told him with a smarmy grin before turning to walk away.

"Watch your back," Cole added, following the captain down the hall.

* * *

After a late night of wallowing in deep thought and regret, Julie decided to sacrifice breakfast for some extra sleep and lazily rolled out of bed at 11:30. After getting undressed, she wrapped a towel around herself, grabbed her shower caddy and trudged into the bathroom across the hall. She let the water run as hot as she could tolerate and stood under the shower head in an attempt to clear her mind. She had let Fulton get to her and spent most of the night tossing and turning, thinking about whether he was right or not. Was Scooter just using her? Maybe not so much to get back at Fulton but, realistically, he was a gorgeous, wealthy, Senior with only about 3 months before graduation and it wasn't as though they were spending copious amounts of time getting to know each other on much more than a physical level.

She was torn, completely and utterly confused and it wasn't anything that sleep and a hot shower could fix. It wasn't something binge eating and complaining to Connie would clarify either, but it sure didn't stop her from trying. Turning off the shower, she toweled off and made her way back into her dorm room, successfully getting into a bra and panties before the telephone rang.

"Hello," she answered weakly.

"Julia!" the unmistakable, high pitched squeal of her mothers voice rang through the receiver.

"Hi, mom," she replied trying to sound pleasant and generally excited to hear from the woman. "How are you?"

"Concerned," she replied seriously. "I was at mass this morning and I was overcome with worry for you."

"Don't be, everything's fine," Julie tried to reassure her mother, though her stomach started to knot at the prospect that Fulton AND God were now onto something.

"No, no, Julia, I need to you read Luke 7: 36-"

"Mother," Julie interrupted, "just tell me what it's about, I have a lot of stuff to do today."

"You should always have time to read the Bible, my word, this is your soul we're talking about," the woman huffed on the other end.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, just, can you tell me about it?"

"It's about the woman sinner, Mary Magdalene, Julia," she began to explain as a Frisbee connected with Julie's window.

"Mom can you hold on a second?" she asked, though didn't wait for a reply, setting the phone down on the window sill she opened the window to see who was out there, forgetting her current state of undress. "What are you doing?" she called down, seeing Scooter and half of the Varsity hockey team outside her window.

"Better question, what are you wearing?" Scooter replied with a laugh, cat calls emanating from the group of teenaged boys behind him.

"Oh - Jesus!" she scrambled back into the room, throwing on an oversized tee shirt and grabbing the phone. "Mom, I'll have to talk to you later."

"Julia, who's there? Are those boys? Why are they whistling?" Julie heard the questions start but, hung up without answering any of them.

Taking a deep breath and trying to remove the red flush of embarrassment from her face, she stuck her head back out the window, a cry of disapproval coming from the boys. "What are you doing?" she repeated.

"Ultimate Frisbee," Scooter smiled up at her, Rick Riley sending the Frisbee toward her face. "I need my good luck charm."

"Yeah, she has some good luck charms alright," Cole commented crassly, causing Julie to hurl the Frisbee at his head.

"Come on," Scooter urged. "Get dressed, we'll be on the soccer field."

"Scooter, It's barely above freezing and there's snow on the ground!" she protested.

"Makes it more interesting," he smirked as the group walked away, Julie smiling to herself over the fact that she'd just been invited to hang out with his friends.

"Cat!" Portman called, running out of his building to catch up with her as she rushed off to the soccer field.

"Hey Portman, what's up?" she smiled, momentarily forgetting the night before and his obvious connection to Fulton.

"I need to talk to you about something," he started nervously, inwardly wondering how he had gotten himself into this situation.

"If it's about Fulton, I don't want to hear it," she turned and started walking again, stopping when he reached for her arm.

"No it's about Scooter," he started, Julie rolling her eyes. "I don't think he's as great a guy as-"

"Portman, stop," she interrupted. "I get it, none of you like him and obviously you're going to take Fulton's side but this is my life, please stay out of it."

"I can't stay out of it if I know you're just going to get hurt," he rationalized, trying not to loose his temper.

"I'm not going to get hurt, I know what I'm doing," she reassured him.

"I don't think you do," he grumbled.

"Don't," she held up her hands. "Just…don't."

"Girls," he grumbled, trudging back to his room to debate if he should send out a Duck call and tell the team.


	10. Prince of Darkness

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! This chapter's a little lengthy, flashbacks are in _ITALICS_.**

**I DISCLAIM**

* * *

Addy Goldberg took off her ear muffs and let them hang around her neck as she rang the buzzer to the Reed's apartment building. It had been nearly a year since she'd been there last and seen those inside, but standing on the concrete stoop, it felt as though she had never left. She was taller now, hovering around 5'6", a height she never would have thought she'd see when she was younger. Most of the baby fat that plagued her pre-pubescent years was gone thanks to a few good growth spurts, though she managed to remain soft where it counted. Her tight brown curls were cut short, leaving her hair big and unruly, a bit like her personality.

"Yeah?" came a voice from the intercom.

"Mama D, let me up!" she smiled at the familiar voice.

"My girl is home!" Addy heard before the door buzzed open and she rushed up to the third floor, the apartment door already ajar. "Adamina, look at you!" Diana Reed exclaimed, holding the girl at an arm's length before drawing her into a tight hug. "You're gorgeous!"

Clinging to the woman, Addy remembered just how much she missed this. For everything the relationship with her biological mother lacked, her relationship with Diana Reed made up for. "I wouldn't exactly say 'gorgeous,' but I did finally get my boobies," she reluctantly pulled out of the hug.

"Oh whatever," she rolled her eyes, showing how young of a mother she actually was. At 32 it was easier to mistake her for an older sister rather than the mother of a 15 year old boy. She was a self made woman and very proud of the life she'd built for her son and herself. "With those curls and those curves, I'm sure you're in high demand back in Philly."

"Yeah, with the lesbo crowd," she sighed. "It's an all girls school, remember?"

"Riiiight," the older brunette ushered them back into the apartment. "Well, your teenaged years are prime for sexual exploration," she offered.

"I know," Addy blushed, "I'm definitely straight."

"My little girl's all grown up and experimenting," Diana pulled Addy to her once more.

"You realize that I'm not yours right?" she asked, a question her and Fulton often found themselves asking the others parent.

"You might as well be. Plus mine won't talk to me like you do, he just grunts and hides in his room. Please move back."

"I'm trying," she smirked. "I have interviews and auditions at Eden Hall all week."

"You're kidding me," she smiled, taking Addy's coat and hanging it on the coat rack.

"Nope, my parents are moving back to Philly and you and I both know they real reason they sent me away to that school was to get me out of my mom's hair," she explained with a bit of disdain in her voice.

"Addy, you know that's not the truth," Diana started, revising her statement after she saw the look Addy was sending her way, "not the whole truth at least. Believe it or not they do want what's best for you and in their minds what's best is that you learn to be a lady so you can find a good husband."

"It's not 1896," she grumbled. "Where's Fulton?"

"Addy," she sighed, knowing full well the girl was upset, but not wanting to push it. Between Fulton and now Addy she had more than enough teen angst to deal with. "He's sleeping, go wake him up; does he know you're in town?"

"Doesn't have a clue," she smiled a bit evilly before making her way down the hall and sneaking into her best friend's room.

* * *

"_Come on midget, jump!" an 8 year old Charlie Conway teased Addy, holding her violin case high above her head. They were standing at the bank of the frozen pond they skated on, the beginnings of the D5 team all gathered together and watching in amusement. Having all been friends in Kindergarten, it wasn't long before tiny little Addy became an easy target, as opposed to Connie, who could hold her own thanks to having 3 brothers._

"_Give it back!" she hollered, trying to climb her way up his body. "I'm going to be late for my lesson! Greg, tell him to give it back!"_

"_Did you hear something?" her brother asked Guy, looking around absently and laughing._

"_Ugh!" she hollered, stomping her foot. "I hate you guys!"_

"_Give it back," a new voice demanded, causing everyone to turn and look at Fulton, a good 2 inches taller than the rest of them and quite the hulking, intimidating figure. Slowly, Charlie lowered his arm until Addy could snatch back her violin. Turning to Charlie, she stuck out her tongue and gave him a shove before chasing after the boy who just defended her against her tormentors. _

"_Hey! Wait up!" she ran until she fell into step with him. "Thanks for that, I'm Addy."_

"_No problem," he shrugged._

"_Do you have a name?"_

"_Fulton."_

"_Are you new? I've never seen you before."_

"_Yeah, just moved here."_

"_From where?"_

"_Stillwater." _

"_Why?" she continued to grill him, causing him to stop and face her._

"_You ask a lot of questions."_

"_I know," she nodded. "Wanna be friends?"_

_Sighing, he looked at her and started walking again. "Sure, I guess."_

* * *

Pushing hard on his bedroom door, seeing as it was blocked by mounds of dirty laundry, Addy smiled at the memories that kept running through her head. Ever since she decided to try and get into Eden Hall, all she could think about was the past and what would hopefully be her future, back in Minnesota.

* * *

"_Tiny, please don't play hockey with them," 10 year old Addy lay sprawled out on Fulton's bed. "They're just trying to steal you from me! They've treated you like a leper since you moved here."_

"_What's a leper?" Fulton asked from his seat at the small desk next to his bed._

"_Um, like, someone covered in sores and all deformed and gross," she explained, causing him to throw a Nerf football at her. "Hey!" she hollered as it connected with her stomach. "Didn't your mom teach you not to hit girls?"_

"_You're not a girl," he rolled his eyes, "and I'm not a leper. Did you ever think that maybe I want to play? That maybe I'd like to have some friends who aren't whiney little babies?"_

"_Oh and they're not whiney little babies? They SUCK! They lose every game and come back to my house to cry about how bad they suck! AND I AM TO A GIRL!" she exclaimed, standing on his bed._

"_Why are you being like this?" he questioned, so used to her over the top behavior that he didn't bat an eyelash at her antics anymore._

"_Because," she pouted and fell back onto the bed in a heap, "you'll realize you like them better and I'll be stuck by myself again, defenseless against the evil super humans that are Charlie and my brother."_

"_They're not evil, you're just easy prey," he pointed out. "You should toughen up a little."_

"_Not evil?? Holding me down so Greg can fart on my head is not evil?!" she asked in shock. "You're just going to feed me to the lions, I know it!" She threw the Nerf back at his head._

_Getting up, Fulton tackled her and grabbed her into a hug. "Knock it off; you know you're always going to be my best friend," he told her as she squirmed away from him. "Look at it this way, I'm on the inside now. I'm like a spy," he rolled across the floor holding his imaginary gun to illustrate the point._

"_More like a loser," she held up her index finger and thumb in the shape of an 'L.'_

"_Take it back," he told her as they began to wrestle on the floor._

"_Never!!" she hollered, unaware that Diana was leaning against the door frame watching them._

"_Grab his elbow, Adds, he hates that," she urged, stopping them when they came a little too close to breaking another lamp. "Alright, enough, dinner's ready. Addy are you staying?"_

"_Nope, can't," she replied, a little out of breath. "My parents are having everyone over because Greg stopped the um, disk thingy."_

"_Puck," Fulton offered._

"_Yeah, the puck."_

"_Oh yeah, Ma, can I go over after dinner?" he asked._

"_Of course," Diana smiled, happy her son was branching out and making some more friends._

* * *

Pushing the door open enough to slip in, Addy made her way over to his bed, smirking as she found him face down and lightly snoring. Straddling his body, she leaned down close to his ear and began to whisper lines from _Silence of the Lambs._ "It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again…" she barely got out before she found herself on the floor.

"Jesus Christ!!" Fulton shot out of bed, his heart racing.

"Hello Clarice," she responded creepily.

"If I wasn't so happy to see you I'd beat the shit out of you," he retorted, pulling her into a hug. "You know that movie freaks me out."

"Exactly," she smirked, jumping up and wrapping her legs around his waist, squeezing him tightly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I was just at your house, no one mentioned you coming home."

"That doesn't really surprise you now does it?" she asked, putting her feet back on the floor. "It's Spring Recess, thought I'd come home and try and make some plans for when the parentals move back to Philly in the fall."

"Yeah, I heard about that," he told her. "Your brother's not too happy."

"He's stupid, it's not like he's going anywhere, they're letting him stay at Eden…"

"I think it's more because he'll have to dorm and eat cafeteria food," Fulton interrupted. "Jesus Addy," he exclaimed, getting a good look at her when she opened the blinds. "You're like a freakin' Amazon woman or something," he marveled at her new found height and shapeliness.

"That better be a good thing," she warned, not too sure how to take his comment.

"I guess," he fidgeted, "I mean, if it wasn't you it would be a very good thing, but, I don't know," he continued awkwardly, closing the blinds that she had just opened to let sunlight into the room. While he was happy to see her, he was still in a foul mood from his fight with Julie.

"Look, I can appreciate this heavy metal, prince of darkness thing you're doing," she started deciding she didn't like the direction of this conversation and opted to flick on the lights when he re-closed the blinds, "but humans are like flowers…" she teased.

"Oh, shut up," he pushed her, sending her sprawling onto the bed as he turned the lights back off. "I'm going back to bed so you might want to move."

"Uhh, no, it's 1 in the afternoon, get dressed," she told him, not moving from her spot. "Oh my god get off," she soon found herself gasping for air as he laid on top of her, crushing her airway.

"I'm not facing the world today," he grumbled, rolling off her and pushing her into the crevice between the bed and wall.

"Oh Jesus, what are you whining about now," she rolled her eyes, trying futilely to get out of the tight space that seemed to have swallowed her.

"Would it kill you to pretend to care for once?" he asked.

"Fine, fine," she sighed, "Fulton, darling, what's wrong?" she asked in a sugary voice.

"Freakin' girls, dude," he exclaimed.

"Hey! Easy," she teased, though felt a slight pang of jealousy that unnerved her a bit. "So who is she?"

"Did you meet Julie?"

"No, but I know _of_ her and she's pissed off my brother a few times so I like her by default," she lied, not sure how he'd react to Addy and Julie's encounter right after their blowout.

"Well, she's dating a real jerk," he started, but Addy cut him off.

"And since she's going to date a jerk you'd rather it be you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Can't you be serious for five seconds?!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry, sorry," she laughed, holding her hands out in defense. "I promise to behave if you pull me out of the bed's ass crack," she bargained.

"Fine," he grabbed her arm and brought her back onto the bed. "Anyway, I punched the guy when they first started messing around and then he asked her out and I think he's using her to get back at me."

"Fult, I've seen her, I don't think that's the only reason he's with her," she told him honestly. "Have you talked to her about any of this?"

"I tried to last night and she freaked out and said she never wants to see me again."

"Ouch," she tried to sound sincere. It wasn't that she was jealous because she wanted to date him; it was because she didn't want anyone else dating him or could it simply be that the age old theory that boys and girls couldn't just be friends was finally starting to rear its ugly head? "Well, that's her loss. You're a great guy, Tiny."

"Don't call me that," he cringed. "It has a different meaning now that we're older," he explained, causing her to blush.

"Well, for the sake of getting the girl I hope it's not true then," she teased.

"Can we stop talking about my dick please?" he squirmed and pushed her back in the crevice.

"I hate you," she grumbled at the all too familiar position she once again found herself in. "Fine, I have shit to do anyways," she sighed, clawing the sheets to pull herself out. "Sulk and cry all you want, but meet me tonight. Tree house, backyard, 9 o'clock," she briefed him. "Come alone," she added cryptically, flicking the lights on to annoy him as she walked out.


	11. Clouded

**A/N: Thank you reviewers! If teen drinking and drug use bother you, this chapter isn't for you, I'm sorry. I had all intentions of making a major cliff hanger but, I apparently suck at being able to do that.**

**I DISCLAIM**

* * *

It was half past by the time Fulton had made it to the tree house nestled in the woods behind the Goldberg's home. Mr. Goldberg had built it for Addy as a birthday present when she turned 8 and the two of them utilized it frequently over the years. Climbing the makeshift ladder that was connected to a tree trunk, he pulled himself up and into the fort, laughing as he saw Addy bundled up and under a mound of blankets, an upturned flashlight illuminating the small space.

"Jesus! About time you showed up, Tiny!" she exclaimed.

"Have you been out here since 9?" he asked, starting to feel slightly guilty. "Whoa, what happened to your hair?" he caught a glimpse at the straight hair hanging out from under her hat.

"Since 8," she told him, pulling her arm from under the blankets to reveal a flask. "Mommy dearest took me to 'fix my unfortunate haircut' and go shopping after dinner and we both came home crying."

"Wow, that's a new record. It's usually at least 2 days before you're blubbering," he pushed her over to get under some of the blankets himself. "This place needs heat."

"Here," she handed the flask over to him, "drink up, you'll be warm in no time."

"No thanks," he took it from her and threw it out of the tree house.

"What the hell, Fult!" she smacked his arm.

"That shit makes you stupid," he said simply, the reality of why he was against it hitting Addy like a ton of bricks and she instantly felt bad.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I forgot."

"It's fine," he pulled her into a side hug. His mother was a recovering alcoholic, 10 years sober. She'd lost custody of Fulton when he was young, leaving him in the care of his grandparents until she straightened her life out. While the last 8 years with her had been the best of his life, he wasn't quick to forget the hell he endured in his younger days.

"Toke up then?" she asked hopefully, she had all intentions of being inebriated by the end of the night.

"Now that I could do," he chuckled.

* * *

"Baby, what's wrong?" Scooter asked Julie, coming up from behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "You've been staring at that painting for 10 minutes," he whispered in her ear. They were at a house party in Edina, filled with upperclassmen and the young privileged elite of Eden Hall.

"Just a lot on my mind," she tilted her head to try and look at him.

"You know what's good for that?" Cole walked up at that very moment, beers in hand. "Booze," he told her, shoving one into her hand and walking off, sending a wink towards Scooter.

"Don't pay attention to him," Scooter told her, "his mom snorted too much coke when she was pregnant," he added, causing them both to laugh.

"No, he's got a point," Julie replied, looking at the beer bottle before deciding this was the perfect moment to get drunk for the first time.

"Whoa, slow down there champ," he gently pulled the bottle away from her mouth. "What's going on with you?"

"I'm just trying to fit in," she commented sarcastically, bringing the drink back to her mouth. "You know, loosen up or something."

"I didn't bring you here to fit in," he laughed lightly. "I brought you here to show off how hot my girlfriend is," spinning her around to face him, he pulled her close and kissed her gently. He really wasn't a complete jerk, he did care for her underneath it all. The fact of the matter was that he was 17, horny and had no desire to be in a long term relationship. He'd mulled over what Cole and Rick had told him that morning, he knew they made valid points but, he also knew he could never be _that _cold.

"Thanks for inviting me," she responded quietly, kissing him again, this time more deeply. "This is only until you graduate, huh?" she felt the need to ask, she had to be honest with herself and decide if she really could do this.

"I … don't know," he responded awkwardly. "We've only been together a week, Julie. We barely know each other."

"I'd like to know you better," she kissed his neck, beginning to feel warm and fuzzy from the beer she'd just chugged.

"I'd like to know you better too," he smirked, playing with a strand of hair that cascaded down her back. "Just not in someone's living room with half the school watching," he whispered, kissing her forehead when she pulled away to look at him. "You wanna head back to school?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah," she responded with a longing smile, taking his hand as he stood. "Just a second," she told him and hurried into the kitchen to grab a few more beers before following him out into the cold night air.

* * *

"Feeling better than when I left you?" Addy inquired, packing the pipe, her back leaning against the wall of the tree house.

"Where'd you get the weed?" he asked.

"Right…toke first, then ask questions about your emotional status," she commented on his swift change of topic. "Bought it back east, I completely forgot it was in my violin case and brought it straight through the airport. Those drug sniffing dogs? Government conspiracy," she laughed, inhaling deeply before passing to him.

"You're nuts," he chuckled, taking a moment to light up. "How's school?"

"Sucks," she responded simply. "Did I tell you they sent me to a new one?" she asked, continuing when he shook his head, telling her she hadn't. "Wow, have we really not talked since before the holidays?"

"Nope," he said, "I haven't seen you since July either."

"Christ," she exclaimed, having a hard time comprehending how they seemed to loose contact with each other more and more as time went on. "Anyway… Academy of the Arts out, charm school in…"

"They really have charm schools?" he interrupted, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"No, but if they did, this would be one," she grabbed the glass piece from him. "Let's put it this way, if Cake Eater ever had me over for dinner, I would know what each fork was for," she explained, causing him to laugh loudly.

"That sucks," he shook his head and chuckled.

"Could be worse I guess. So, this Julie thing…" she probed anxiously, still unsure as to why it bothered her so much.

"There is no Julie thing anymore," he sighed, finally ready to talk about it. "I'll always care about her, but she doesn't want anything to do with me."

"You're just going to give up on it that easy?" she asked.

"I guess," he shrugged. "It's not like we were hanging out all the time or anything. I just thought she was really cool and really hot," he confessed, causing Addy to scoff. "What?" he asked.

"Just seems like a punk move, giving up so easy on the girl that gives you a major boner."

"Shut up," he managed to smile, shoving her a bit.

"Make me," she retorted out of reflex, not prepared for him to clumsily tackle her. "Ow, hey!" she whined, her reflexes dramatically slowed as she struggled against his weight. "Get off! I'm just a little girl!"

"You are _not_ a little girl," he pushed himself up a bit to look at her.

"I think that offends me," she laughed nervously, becoming increasingly aware of his body on top of hers.

"I'm not calling you fat," he rolled his eyes. "You've just, grown up," he told her casually.

"You noticed," she teased.

"Kinda hard not to," he smirked, still having not moved from his position on top of her as he shifted his weight onto one arm so he could gently brush the hair back from her face.

"Fulton-"

"Shhh," he quieted her, knowing if she said anything else one of them would come to their senses. Leaning in, he hesitated inches from her face, only continuing after she closed the gap.

* * *

"So, why'd you lie to me about the black eye?" Julie asked as they snuck back onto campus hand in hand. She had originally planned on letting it slide but, with a few bottles of liquid courage coursing through her she couldn't help herself.

"He told you," Scooter groaned, leaning against the back of her dorm.

"He told me a lot of things," she shrugged.

"Like what?" he responded hastily.

"You seem guilty of something," she eyed him, walking the length of her building and to her window.

"No," he followed quickly after her. "I just know he has a thing for you, that's all."

"Well I have a thing for _you_," she reassured him, turning to kiss him a bit sloppily. "Help me with the window, you're taller, " she instructed, watching as he palmed the glass and pushed it up. Pulling herself up and into the room however, proved to be a bit more difficult in her current state and she smirked as she felt his hand on her butt, helping to boost her up. "Like what you see?" she called down with a laugh.

"You have no idea," he smirked, climbing in behind her and shutting the window. Hooking his fingers into the belt loops on her jeans he pulled her towards him for a kiss.

"You never answered my question," she pulled back.

"I was embarrassed," he told her quietly, his admission causing Julie to giggle. "You're not helping!" he protested though found himself laughing as well.

"That's probably the most honest and real thing you've ever said to me," she told him, any doubt that Fulton had placed in her mind erased by his admission and the alcohol. Smiling widely, she clumsily fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. "Take that thing off," she instructed him with a slur, taking off her own shirt and moving to her bed.

"Yes Ma'am," he laughed, doing as he was told before pushing her back onto the mattress and kissing her; hands roaming.

"I'm not having sex with you," she told him as he kissed down her chest.

"Ever?"

"Tonight."

"Well, there's plenty of other things we can do," he smiled at her devilishly, unable to keep Cole's logistics from running through his head.

"Teach me," she whispered after a long pause, giving him the green light to continue his trail of kisses down her body.


End file.
